Beneath the surface
by BlackSunAndWhiteMoon
Summary: Just stop obsessing over Hudson, she told herself furiously. She hated him. For being so tall, so carefree, so different from Jesse. But, oh she wanted him. She knew it was wrong. She was pureblood. He, muggleborn. But she just couldn't help herself.Au HP
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Santana Lopez had lost the thread of her friends' conversation a while ago. She was aware that they were talking…..at least that their lips were moving, but she wasn't paying attention.

No, Santana was recovering from another one of her daydreams, the ones about him.

"What do you think Santana?" With a small jolt she turned her face in the direction of the person asking the question. Jesse St. James, fellow Slytherin and boyfriend, or, lets face it, her future fiance.

"Excuse me. What?" She asked, pretending she had simply misheard, even though it was obvious she wasn't paying attention.

"About who you think is going to be the new DADA professor?" Piped in the third person in the train compartment. This one her best friend, also a Slytherin (of course) , Rachel Berry.

"Well I know professor Snapes' been after the job for years, and he'd be absolutely brilliant. But knowing Dumbledore. The new professor would be something ridiculous like a werewolf, or some sort of freaky frog lady." she replied with a shudder.

Even before she said it, she knew it wasn't fooling anyone. From the corner of her eyes she saw Jesse with an annoyed expression on his face. However, it quickly dissipated as soon as Rachel asked him what classes he's enrolled in. As humble and eloquently as possible, he went into detail about owl level classes that he's taking, and how they would help him reach his goal, the future minister of magic. Jesse was ambitious, even by Slytherin standards. Santana could tell from the look in his eyes that he was waiting to impress them with this seemingly impromptu speech. She could also tell from the look on Rachel's face that it was working.

Santana turned her head and went back to feigning interest in the scenery passing by outside the Hogwarts Express. She knew that she should've felt guilty for not paying attention to Jesse. After all she was his girlfriend, not Rachel. Even though it was apparent to the both of them, and to every Slytherin in their year, that he and Rachel got along and had much more in common than she and him ever had.

But to Slytherins, that all made perfect sense, it was separating that didn't. They were both the same age, purebloods, wealthy, and from two very old, very powerful families. Which translated to Santana and Jesse being promised to each other from practically in the womb.

Their relationship didn't consist of making out by the common room fire or silly romantic dates at Hogsmeade. No, any physical affection shared would be done as discreetly and privately as possible. In public, they would always be known as a single unit. Both were the Slytherin prefects, and had exceptional marks in all classes. They were the perfect Slytherin couple.

Distantly she heard Rachel's musical giggling caused by something Jesse said. An unwanted twinge of jealousy suddenly enters her. Not for Jesse, but for Rachel.

Rachel was a pureblood, but her family was nowhere near as noble or as wealthy as Santana's. Which meant that Rachel was under none of the same pressures that Santana went through everyday. In fact, her dream was to become a performer.

Santana imagined what would happen if she ever tried telling her parents she wanted to live her life performing in front of people for money, and almost laughed. She was entering her 6th year at Hogwarts, which meant she had only two short years before the inevitable happened. She'd graduate, but would never get a job, working was supposedly beneath such a noble lady. She would enter pureblood high society, and go through the intricate and exhausting ritual of furthering her family's name.

But what Santana Lopez dreaded the most about graduation was not having tea with annoying old ladies. What she worried about, and what a select few Slytherins also worried about, was much more terrifying. It was the dirty little secret that no one at Hogwarts ever talked about, but it had crossed everyone's mind at one point or another.

Which families were loyal to the Dark Lo- No! She was not gonna go there. Her stomach was twisting itself in knots just thinking about it.

She couldn't help it though, contemplations about her future would inevitably lead to the question. In the past she figured out that pre-occupying her time with fantasies of him was the only way of escaping that line of thought.

A gentle nudge on her shoulder and a "Santana?" snapped her back to reality. It was Jesse.

"Huh" she answered lamely.

"The train stopped, we're at the castle and you just sat there frozen. Rachel was worried, but I told her to go on ahead. Are you okay?" This time his expression wasn't annoyance by her distracted behavior, she could see that he was genuinly concerned.

It was then that her earlier train of thought suddenly slammed into her. Oh Jesse, poor Jesse, Jesse whom she had known forever and was in the same boat as her, Jesse whom she didn't love romantically but still cared for deeply, Jesse who wanted to become minister of magic. Would there even be a Minstry if He came into power?

The expression on her face must have alarmed him because he started going on about how she should lie down and he would get Madam Pomfrey.

Quickly, she schooled her face to a more natural expression and pulls out the silver star-jeweled compact mirror she inherited from her grandmother . "Don't worry about it, I was just concerned about how I looked" she said as she pretended to touch up her makeup.

"You look as beautiful as you always do." Was his immediate response, and she knew it wasn't a compliment but a mere statement of fact.

"Yes of course I do, but you're a guy so you wouldn't understand. For the people who haven't seen me all summer, I have to be absolutely perfect when I walk through those doors for the first time." She stated, and was surprised that it wasn't a complete lie.

Now that Jesse understood.

"Sure, I'll wait outside and explain to Rachel you're fine." he informed her giving her a peck on the forehead as he left.

Santana sighed and looked into the small mirror. "Come on Lopez, the sorting hasn't even begun and already you're having a nervous breakdown." it taunted as she shuts the compact.

A moment later as she walked through the aisles of the Hogwarts Express, she took it as a good sign that no one had annoyed her yet. Even the first year, who had fallen asleep on the train and bumped into her rushing to get out, she let go without so much as a threat.

Suddenly, laughter echoed around the now mostly empty train. Up the aisle she sees that it came from Tina Cohen-Chang, a Ravenclaw prefect.

As she got closer she could see that the Ravenclaw had wrapped her arms around someone else and was currently pulling as hard as she could. Her partner looked like he was trying to extract something from the overhead compartment. Without looking at the person's face she already figured out who it was just from his height. Finn Hudson.

Obviously, Chang had some trouble getting a carry-on from the overhead compartment. While Finn, lumbering buffoon that he was, had offered to help and gotten stuck. She must've seen him struggling and tried to help by yanking him out, until the whole arrangement ultimately dissolved into one big giggle fest between the two of them.

They must've thought they looked so cute.

Santana's good mood evaporated as fast as it came.

It was pissing her off. These people were about to be 6 years just like her and they didn't even think of magic to resolve the situation. She knew that Chang was a half-blood and that Finn was muggleborn, but that was no excuse. What was the point of letting their lot learn magic if they weren't going to use it properly.

She should have just kept on walking but the sudden urge to disturb their cozy mood was too strong. Nothing particularly clever came to mind. So she did the first thing she could think of.

She shoved Chang. Hard.

Now that was a sight worth losing your head over. Chang went down on her ass, followed by Finn, followed by all of her things spilling out.

She looked down at her handiwork with a smirk. The Ravenclaw had her mouth wide open, too shocked to even move. Finn was the first to recover. He got up and then helped the girl to her feet.

"What the hell was that?" Chang exclaimed as soon as she found her voice.

"It's simple, Cohen-Chang was it? You two were in me way." she drawled out trying to sound bored with the situation.

"So? What kind of logic is that? You can't just go around shoving people for no reason. Tell me Lopez. What have I ever done to you?" she stated.

Santana narrowed her eyes on Finn's hand still clutching Chang's arm. She followed it up and met is face. He was giving her his I-hate-you-why-don't-you-go-drown-in-two-feet-of-water face.

"Oh Hudson, is that really you? I heard a rumor this summer, that Hagrid married a Hippogriff, and the only other malformed half-giant they could find was living in his shack." She sneered watching his face, waiting for a reaction.

"Whatever, why don't you just go find a small child to frighten" He grounded out scowling at her.

"Wait, that was it? You're not Slytherins, but come on, give me something to work with." She mocked, but they had already turned away picking up Chang's belongings.

This was no fun. Any Slytherin first year could come up with a better insult. Hell, even a Gryffindor would never back down without having the last word. These two were content to ignore her and get on with their business.

"Yeah well keep talking Hudson, maybe you'll say something intelligent by accident." She muttered stalking past them, feeling slightly embarrassed, but not knowing why.

Right as she was about to un-board the train, Santana chanced a glance back at the pair. They had gathered all of Chang's things, and she was thanking him. Finn had offered to help carry her stuff, while giving her his trademark dimpled half-smirk. The smile that pretty much everyone at Hogwarts got, everyone except for her that was.

She hears her name being shouted from outside, and followed the unmistakable voice to it's owner, Rachel Berry. Who was currently jumping up and down and waving at her from a carriage. She could only see the back of Jesse head from here, but she was positive he looked like a prince riding to his castle.

She couldn't help the comparisons between Jesse and Finn that came after. Where Jesse was refined and intelligent in every aspect , Finn was crude and almost childlike. Wherever Jesse went, heads turned and they immediately knew that this young man was going to be a great wizard someday. Wherever Finn went, one glance and people became worried he'd hit his head on the lighting fixtures. It was obvious who was better.

Just stop obsessing over Hudson, she told herself furiously. It was no use.

Dammit! She hated him. She hated him for being so tall, so carefree, so different from Jesse. But,oh…she wanted him. She knew it was wrong. She was a pureblood, he was a muggleborn.

But she just couldn't help herself.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**_**_ A/N:To the two people who've read chapter 1. First of all, thank you for reading it! Second of all, sorry if this chapter is kinda boring. This is an au so there's gonna be a lot of setup in the first 3 chapters. I promise chapter 4 is when things start getting juicy ;)_**_**

This was it. This was how she was going to die. Desperately, she looked to her friend and hoped for rescue, but the brunette was long gone. Then she thought, maybe if she just closed her eyes, she ' d never have to open them again and her suffering would stop. Better yet, when her eyes opened, the entire world would be different and she had never stepped foot in this place or known of its existence.

She opened her eyes. She saw a ghost wearing a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches sporting the most ridiculous, not to mention impractical, comb over ever. Nope, still the same. She could feel Rachel ' s presence. Her usually chipper friend was still flipping through a magazine and periodically blowing out puffs of air through the side of her mouth. With a barely suppressed yawn, Santana looked over at Jesse. Even Jesse, who took all things self-improvement seriously, especially school work, was currently resting his chin on his hand and staring out the window with a dazed expression. Santana wondered if that was the scene he always saw when he looked at her. A small amount of warmth spread through her at this newfound connection.

They were a month into a new year at Hogwarts. At first, Santana was too engaged with the excitement and demands of her new schedule and courses to dwell on the daydreams she was prone to. But by now, most of the student population had realized that they were still going to see the same professors, classrooms, and people. Excitement faded as people realized that nothing much had changed from last year and the daily routine would set in.

This routine was a particularly soul sucking one, literally, the professor was freakin dead ! If that wasn ' t a downer, than she didn ' t know what was. It was pretty much the consensus of everyone at Hogwarts ; History of Magic was the most mind numbing form of torture there was. She could ' ve sworn, whenever a teacher dismissed them from class right before Professor Binns, they were trying to hide a smile.

He would just drone on and on about the magical world ' s history, and the students would just sit there with no one would even having the strength to be a disturbance. She was surprised that Rachel even had the fortitude to not fold the magazine up and use the sharp corners to stab out her eardrums.

Most teachers would have been angry and insulted that nobody was paying attention to them. Well … almost nobody. Like most groups, there was one idiot who had to throw the whole system out of whack.

"Whoa, and then what happened ? How many were there ?"

Santana rolled her eyes. Of course that idiot would have to be Finn Hudson. She looked over at him. It was almost comical. He compared to everyone else in the class. Finn looked like someone who had been told they won the lottery while attending a funeral.

While most people excelled in classes like Charms or Transfiguration, Finn ' s favorite class was History of Magic. She once overheard him say ( not that she was trying to listen ) that he liked it because it reminded him of Lord of the Rings or Brave Heart (whatever those things were ) but cooler because the events had actually happened. Santana failed to see what was so interesting about something like the Goblin Wars. Midget bank tellers hurling 2nd rate spells at each other ? Real engaging material that was.

She started to wonder for the millionth time, why would someone like her ever give someone like him a second glance ? Her mind went back to their first meeting, the Hogwarts Express.

It was before they even started Hogwarts. Santana was sitting in the train compartment with Jesse and his friend, more like lackey, Azimio. Jesse was his usual charming self and was explaining the finer points of Hogwarts life to Azimio, even though he himself had never set foot there.

She hated that they were ignoring her. She knew it was because she was a girl and that most 10 year old boys were still going through the " girls are useless " stage of life.

Santana was desperate for anything to make her a part of their conversation. She bet she knew way more about Hogwarts then Jesse and wanted to impress them with her knowledge. Like most offspring of wealthy purebloods, they had all known each other since they were little. Azimio was nothing extraordinary, just another individual she was required to associate with. Jesse however, he was special. Whenever their families gathered, the children would all be shuffled together and left to their own tiny version of social climbing. Naturally, Jesse came out on top. She remembered always being in awe of him. The most Santana ever got was people telling her how pretty she was, they were never looking at her the way Azimio was looking at Jesse. That was going to change, Hogwarts was her chance. She was finally going to show Jesse and her parents what she could accomplish.

She heard Jesse tell Azimio how the stairs would periodically change and to be careful, or you ' d wind up on a completely different floor. That was it ! She knew all about the stairs. They would also lead to nowhere and they had false steps that you had jump over them or you would trip over it or get stuck. Right as she was about to inform them of this, she was interrupted by the compartment door sliding open.

" Excuse me, is someone sitting here ?" a timid voice asked from the train aisle.

Annoyed, she sought out whoever disrupted her chance. Whoa, the voice was small, but the body wasn ' t. Was this kid a first year like them ? The only thing that confirmed it was an absence of school robes with a house signifying crest.

"Did you kids hear ? Harry Potter might be on this train " a Gryffindor told them through the now open door as she ran past them. No doubt to confirm the news for herself.

All four of their head snapped to attention. Jesse was the first to speak " Let ' s go Azimio, we should make friends with Harry Potter if he ' s coming to Hogwarts. " Just like that they were gone.

Santana was miffed, they just left her there. It wasn ' t like she needed permission to go with them, but she still didn ' t budge from her seat. She only just promised she would do amazing things and making friends with The Harry Potter was a big opportunity. You could definitely achieve something spectacular if you had someone as powerful as him on your side. However, just thinking of being in the same presence of a wizard that dangerous was giving her chills. He did defeat the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named before he could walk ! Who knows what he could do to them with just a glance if they somehow offended him.

"Harry Potter ?" the boy from earlier had sat down. " He ' s just a baby. " He said with a confused expression.

Santana rolled her eyes "Harry Potter was a baby like 10 years ago. Now he ' s around our age. " She told him condescendingly.

" Oh yeah. " he murmured looking down, embarrassment reddening his cheeks.

Santana sighed. Great, her only source of conversation was worse than Azimio. She scrutinized him. From his clothes, he was probably poor. Not that she knew what poor people clothes looked liked, but he was dressed a lot differently from Jesse. She led a pretty sheltered life ; it was saw to that she came into contact with only the finest things and people possible. Well at least he wasn ' t a muggleborn she figured. If he was, he wouldn ' t have known who Harry Potter was. Unless he had read his history text book beforehand and gotten all the way to the end, where the fall of the Dark Lord was mentioned, but what child would choose a history book when there were things like curses and potions to read about.

She supposed that if she was going to rule the entire world some day ( yep, amazing things ) she should learn how to deal with the common folk. This boy looked about as common as they came. So she ' d practice on him.

But what could she possibly say ? The kid looked like he wanted to sink into his seat until he disappeared completely, still trying to recover from his earlier embarrassment. She got an idea.

" Hey kid. Don ' t worry about it. A lot of people would have made the same mistake " Yeah people who haven ' t learn how to go potty for themselves yet. She kept to herself.

It didn ' t seem like he believed her. Maybe he wasn ' t as dumb as he looked. She realized that none of her experiences so far had prepared her for someone so … ..ordinary. Then a horrifying thought came to mind. What if most of the people at Hogwarts were like him ? She was always reminded by her parents, that purebloods of great stature were a dying breed. Would they think her unnatural for being so prim, proper, and unfamiliar with trendy commoner topics ?

She chided herself. Come on Lopez, you see Jesse charming people around him every single day, impressing one simpleton shouldn ' t be that hard. Think. A memory stored in the back of her mind materialized.

" Do you think Crumple-Horned Snorkacks are real ?" she blurted out.

Wow. She did want to come down to his level. This was pretty much the reverse of what had happened earlier. She couldn ' t believe she said something so silly and childish ! She half expected him to say something along the lines of " Ya, I heard Santa is gonna be using Crumpled-Horned Snorkacks instead of reindeer this year. " Santana racked her brain for something mean spirited to beat him to the punch.

Crap, here it comes. She saw him smile. She couldn ' t help feel, even through her panic, glad to already be sitting down. For some reason her knees felt extremely weak, and an insane need sprang up in her index finger to just poke one of the dimples that now appeared on his cheeks.

"Well I read that Xenophilius Lovegood was really close to catching one this summer. " He told her, his grin widening.

He was so eager and his smile so infectious that she couldn ' t help but return it. She felt that from most people, a response like that would ' ve come off as sarcastic or bait to try and get her to make a bigger fool out of herself. The atmosphere in the compartment had loosened so much, and he looked so genuine, that Santana took a chance and asked the question that she wanted.

" Really ? Last I heard he was doing research on Nargles. With them being found in mistletoe, it was much cheaper than going all the way to Sweden to look For Snorkacks. "She stated.

Off course her information was old news. It was from a free promotional issue of the Quibbler that was delivered to her house years ago. She remembered a quote on the cover catching her eye " How I survived a Nargle infestation and how it could help you " Curious, she opened the magazine and started reading about how this man kept the Nargles away by wearing Butterbeer cork necklaces and radish earrings. She never even heard of a Nargle before. Was wearing produce a form of magic she had never heard of before ?

She then proceeded to read the rest of the magazine. What she saw amazed her. Other than completely true 2nd person accounts of creatures that she never knew existed. There were articles on how the singer from the Weird Sisters kept his secret identity as a vampire superhero a secret from non-Quibbler readers, how to read someone ' s mind when they were trying to read your mind without them minding. It even came with spiral lens glasses to decode a puzzle you had to read upside down. She recalled lying on side of her bed for hours, feet dangling in the air, trying to decode the messages. She knew that it was inappropriate, but she spent weeks reading the issue front to back and back to front.

It was a bit thrilling actually, to be doing something that her parents didn ' t pick out for her and keeping it from them. She had plenty of books and toys of course, but they were different from time spent with her issue of the Quibbler. The fables she read, even though they were fantastic stories about faraway places, she had to learn what lessons they were trying to teach. Her posh dolls and luxurious tea sets, the envy of the other girls her age, she had to play with properly to learn etiquette.

Eventually her father caught her with the magazine. He told her it was garbage that would " rot her brain " . He threw it away and that was that.

Later, she realized that the Quibbler was a bit of a joke in the Wizarding world, and the easiest way to pick out a fool was to see someone holding a copy. Never would she imagined, that she would be sitting there on her way to Hogwarts, and acknowledging her awareness of such embarrassing topics found in the Quibbler.

This boy kept talking about things he read in the Quibbler with complete faith in the facts, but Santana didn ' t think him foolish at all. A small part of her, the small part of her that still believed what she read years ago a tiny bit, was slightly interested.

"Here, you see ?" He questioned her as he pointed to an artist rendition of a Snorkack.

Santana ' s eyes widened and her throat dried. She hadn ' t noticed, but he had pulled out a copy of the Quibbler from somewhere.

"When did you get that ? " she asked in what she hoped was an even tone.

" Oh, Just when I was buying my schoolbooks from Diagon Alley last week. " He claimed like it was no big deal.

She knew it was pathetic. She was older now. She had already decided to make her parents proud of her. She was about to start Hogwarts. But in that instant she would have traded 1 or 2 of her finest dresses just to have that magazine.

"Hey, looks like we ' re here. " He said as the train rolled to a complete stop. He opened the door to join the throng of other students, but just stood there looking at her.

He ' s waiting for me to join him. She realized.

She envisioned a scene of her, Jesse, and this boy standing within arm ' s reach of each other. She didn ' t like what she saw.

" I ' m sorry but I have to wait for my friends to return. You should just go on ahead. " She declared, her eyes avoiding him.

" Okay " she heard the disappointment in his voice. "Here, take this and tell me what you think about it later. "He told her as his voice perked up "Cya " he shouted back at her, pushed along by the other students.

She looked at what laid on the seat next to her. It was his issue of the Quibbler. What should she do ? Throw it away ? Before she could decide what to do, she heard Jesse and Azimio returning to get their belongings. In a panic, she stowed the magazine in her bag before they could notice it.

"Well … .was it him ? Harry Potter ? She asked them when they didn ' t acknowledge her presence.

Jesse just went through his bag with a sour expression on his face. It was a while before he answered. "No, it was just someone who matched the description. Some kid named Blaine Warbler. "

Santana looked around at the other students. Every single one looked terrified, except for Jesse. He of course knew that he would be a Slytherin. Like there was any other option. She wondered why she was feeling nervous too. She would also be sorted into Slytherin, like Jesse, like some of the other pureblood children she recognized. There was no doubt in any of their minds. She knew that the Slytherin house crest would have been sewn on their robes long before they woke up this morning, just like it had been for her, just like it would have been for all their parents before them. She briefly imagined how exhilarating it would have been to not know what house the hat would pick for you. To not know what friends she would have for the rest of her life. To not already know what traits she had that defined who she was to the rest of the world.

"Abrams, Artie " McGonagall read in a crisp clear voice

The first person to be sorted stepped up and sat on the stool. She could see that he was shaking even from this distance. She supposed it was a mix of not knowing what the sorting hat was going to say and being the center of attention of all these older students. He was shaking so hard, she expected him to fall right off. His feet didn ' t even reach halfway down the stool. She supposed that they would all look like that, their feet all dangling in the air with the hat covering their entire head. Santana guessed that the sorting wouldn ' t have much trouble placing that one. Even she could tell, just from appearances, what house he belonged in.

"Ravenclaw !" the dusty old hat croaked out.

Well that wasn ' t surprising at all, she concluded. She glanced around at the students she didn ' t recognize and tried making a game of matching houses to them. She overheard a kid in a Mohawk say something about " Yo ! Puckasaurus is gonna rule this school !" as he flexed the beginnings of a bicep to the girl next to him. Great, a douche bag Gryffindor if she ever saw one.

"Hudson, Finn " McGonagall read

It was the boy from the train. He looked as nervous as everyone else. His feet were the only ones of the first years that actually reached the ground. She found that pretty adorable for some reason. A sudden thought entered her mind.

Wouldn ' t it be wonderful if he was a Slytherin ? She thought gleefully

It was then she would realize that Santana Lopez and Finn Hudson would never work in any type of relationship, friendship wise or romantically. It wasn ' t because he was a muggleborn. No, that she found out later. It didn ' t have to do with the fact that his naivety and general cluelessness wasn ' t due to his youth, that it was actually some horrible oversight by evolution. No it was much worse, worse than getting disowned and being left with no status or fortune, worse than being a labeled a blood traitor. It was what still made her cringe and groan in embarrassment every single time she looked at him.

"Hufflepuff !" the hat echoed for everyone in the great hall to hear.

In that instant, Finn Hudson became invisible to her. She didn ' t hate him, it was more like indifference. What could possibly she gain from associating with a Hufflepuff ? The name alone was lame enough to be a legitimate reason. He would probably go on to have a few classes with her maybe even sit next to her. She wouldn ' t have noticed, nor would she have cared.


	3. Chapter 3

Clutching the letter from her mother, Santana wiped way the few remaining tears that lingered on her face.

She briefly thought about re-examining the letter over again, hoping that there was at least one key piece of evidence she had missed, telling her she was mistaken.

But who was she fooling? She had reread it so many times; she practically knew the entire thing by heart. By now, the only purpose it would serve would be to make her start crying again.

The letter had started off well enough. No different from any of the other "letters" her mother had previously sent her. More like reminders to be the good little pureblood girl and news on her family and their status in the magical world. Daddy had added more money to their already ridiculous fortune. As if that made a difference, as if she cared.

As she read the further, she was tempted to just throw the letter away. If only she didn't have the sneaking suspicion that somehow her mother would find out if she did. Maybe she had charmed it or something. Santana was starting to get bored as she read, but then she got to the troubling line

"We are extremely proud of your cousin James."

That was it. Just one sentence, but it was still haunting her. She could practically see the words, and hear it in her mother's voice.

To most people, receiving information like that would've been nothing out of the ordinary. But it was different for Santana; she knew what it meant and what it implied.

James had dropped out of Hogwarts last month.

She was no longer the naïve 10 year old anymore. She was a third year now. Which meant she had three years of experience. It was one thing to listen to her father talk about pureblood ideology; it was a whole different thing to actually live it. Here she was exposed to people who didn't think the same way her family did, even people who were violently opposed to it. She finally understood that there were two sides to the wizarding world.

James leaving Hogwarts meant only one thing. He was joining the Dark Lord.

He was only three years older than her. It wasn't like her cousin James was her favorite person in the world. In fact, she hated him. She always remembered him bullying her and doing things like teasing her and pulling her hair, when they were growing up. However, her parents loved him, her father especially. He even had his own room at their house.

There was no way he would have rebelled. Add that and the fact that her parents were proud; Santana could only conclude one thing. There it was definitive proof of where her families' loyalties laid.

Would she be expected to follow in her cousin's footsteps?

The question had been bothering her all day. She had gotten the letter in the morning. Off course she was upset when she read it, but it was breakfast. She was in the great hall, surrounded by her fellow Slytherins. There was no way she was going to burst into tears right then and there. So she held it in. throughout breakfast, classes, and the rest of the day she held it in.

She supposed if she really wanted someone to talk to, Rachel would listen. But she knew that there was no way Rachel could have even began to understand someone in her position. Even though she was her best friend, Rachel's future was much different from hers. What would she accomplish by burdening her with Santana's?

There was always Jesse too. But that was a dead end. Unlike Rachel, Jesse's situation was far too similar to hers. He was as helpless as she was. She really didn't know what he actually believed in, and truth be told she didn't want to know. Not if the answer was something that would irreparably changed how she viewed him. Besides they weren't that type of couple.

So that was how she found herself alone, sitting in the stands and staring blankly at the Quidditch pitch. Well this was as good a place as any, she supposed. For such a big Castle, Hogwarts provided an atrociously small amount of privacy. After all, she couldn't be seen blubbering about. She still had an image to maintain. She was just thankful that it was a weeknight and Quidditch season hadn't started yet.

"Dude! Just wait and see! This kids got the goods. Trust me." The sudden appearance of the voice startled her so much, that she reached for her wand.

When she saw that it was just a bunch of other students, and that she was safe, she raised her wand even higher.

She saw flashes of yellow mixed in with their black robes. Great. Hufflepuffs, just what she needed. No one from the group had spotted her yet. It was beginning to get dark and all of their backs were turned to her as they walked onto the pitch.

Well so much for being alone she thought, lowering her wand. But she be damned if she let a bunch of Hufflepuffs run her out. She was here first, she argued to no one in particular.

As the group got closer to the middle of the pitch, she saw them lower a big wooden chest. Probably contains Quidditch equipment. She surmised when she noticed that some of them were wearing Quidditch gear.

The owner of the offending voice from before, jumped onto the chest. She recognized him as a fellow third year. What was his name? Sam? Pam? Well it was probably Sam considering he was male.

"Ladies and Gentlemen." He addressed the small crowd, which had now formed a semi circle around him. She saw him slowly point a finger at each individual for dramatic effect. His eyes finally locked with Santana's, his expression faltered for a second, but he continued. "I know Hufflepuff hasn't exactly won the Quidditch cup in a few years."

Santana just scoffed at that. She didn't exactly follow Quidditch, but even she knew that Hufflepuff had never won a championship.

"I know that this is only my second year on the team. However, this year, that cup is ours. I can feel it." At that, the crown started cheering and hollering loudly.

It was so lame, that Santana was starting to feel second hand embarrassment for them.

"And how do I know this?" He questioned when it had quieted down. "Well my friends, I have discovered a secret weapon among our ranks." He started to do a drum roll on his lap "I give to you, Finn Hudson!"

He pointed at a figure in the crowd. At Sam's queue, Finn walked out and gave the crowd a small wave and a goofy grin.

"Ummm, hey." Was all he managed to get out in front the crowd. Santana was not impressed; neither was anyone else judging from their reactions.

"Okay, well Quidditch isn't about the words. It's all about the action!" Finn's hype man yelled, trying to assure his skeptical teammates.

"Wait. Wasn't that the kid who was banned from flying after just his first lesson?" Some kid from the crowd pointed out. "Yea I remember now, you were the one who flew into Madame Hooch. Didn't she like go into a coma, and weren't you banned from flying at Hogwarts for life."

"Actually, that incident was greatly exaggerated. It wasn't a lifetime ban." Finn defended himself. "But yes, she did lay in a coma for several months were her grandchildren wept at her bedside." He mumbled out.

This was going to be a disaster. Santana knew it.

A few moments later, she watched as Finn unsteadily flew his broom straight up. With the rest of the team doing laps and him just floating there. Santana had no idea how he was supposed to be a secret weapon.

Then she saw the wooden ball speeding past the field, and Finn stopping it right before it went through one of the three loops. Then another, and another, and another. It continued like that for a while. She saw the team become more and more excited every time Finn smacked a ball away

It was starting to annoy her. See, this was why everyone made fun of Hufflepuffs. Who the hell would be glad that they couldn't even score one goal? He wasn't even that impressive. Of course he could block every attempt to score; he was so huge that he practically covered two goal posts without even moving.

She watched as the team descended. They immediately crowded around Finn and lifted him up, celebrating as if they had just won a game. She saw Sam dancing in one spot, obviously overjoyed that his earlier claims had been vindicated.

It looked like they were leaving.

For some insane reason, Santana had the urge to follow them. Before she knew what she was doing, she realized that her feet had moved of their own accord.

Some of the Hufflepuffs gave her startled looks when they saw her walking behind them. She did have a reputation after all. But they all went back to celebrating with their teammates.

After awhile, the strange group encountered another Hufflepuff. Mercedes Jones. This one's name, Santana actually remembered. How could she forget? She was… well loud was one way to describe her.

The Hufflepuffs immediately engulfed Jones when they realized it was one of their own. All at once they started to recount the events of the Quidditch practice. They reminded Santana of a bunch of children trying to get their mother's attention.

It was a bit sickening to watch actually.

She saw Jones' confused face when she spotted Santana. For explanation, Sam just shrugged his shoulders. He then took one of her hands and kissed her on the lips.

They must be some sort of item, she realized. Either that, or the rumors were true, and the Hufflepuffs really were the secret freaks at Hogwarts. Anyway, the silent exchange about her was greatly irritating.

So she increased her speed to overtake them, but not before giving one of the Hufflepuffs a shove with her shoulder as she passed.

"Well isn't she the contrary witch?" She heard Mercedes' remark from behind her.

"Whatever, just ignore her." Sam commented. "What we need to do, is celebrate. Looks like we're almost guaranteed a championship this year. And who knows? Maybe the points would be enough to finally get us the house cup this year?"

"If Hufflepuff has never gotten the house cup, it just means they suck." Santana stated, with her back still facing them.

"What was that? I couldn't really hear, your moustache is just so distracting you know." Mercedes replied.

Normally Santana wouldn't have let an insult like that pass by, but she knew when to pick her battles. She was a Slytherin after all. There was only one of her and a lot of them. I wasn't like she was intimidated by them. They were just Hufflepuffsl. However, the sheer amounts of insults she would have to think up for each individual was too exhausting a task.

"I say a visit to the kitchens is in order." Sam continued, taking his own advice and ignoring her.

Actually, that was a good idea. Santana was starving. She had skipped dinner, choosing instead to bawl her eyes out in the Quidditch stands. Plus the kitchens were a good excuse for why she was walking in the same direction as them.

She stopped in front of the kitchen entrance, the portrait of the bowl of fruit. She saw the Hufflepuffs standing around uncomfortably, as she tickled the pear to gain access to the kitchen.

"Relax Puffs. Everyone at Hogwarts already knows that your secret common room location is right next to the kitchen. We laugh about it all the time." She nastily informed them.

She almost felt bad for them as they resigned themselves to walking into their common room in front of her. Only Finn, Sam, and Mercedes remained.

"I'll get the food guys. You two go in." Finn instructed them.

"You're tonight's star. I can get it." Sam offered.

"Nah, I'm the newest member of the team. I gotta pay my dues man." Finn declared

Santana forgot why she had briefly thought why they were even remotely interesting a few minutes ago, as she heard the exchange while walking into the kitchen.

She was then bombarded by a slew of house elves, promising to do her every biding. She was very politely forced into a small stool and a miniature circular table was put down in front of her.

An instant later she heard Finn as he walked into the kitchen. He was given much the same treatment as her. However, this time the house elves didn't provide him with his own table, choosing instead to plop him down in front of hers.

For a moment that felt like an eternity, they just gazed at each other silently.

The table was so small that there was barely any room between them. She knew she should've been uncomfortable with being in such close proximity to him, but all she could think about was memorizing the jaw line that was in front of her. Was she ever this close to him before?

An unwanted memory from 3 years ago surfaced.

With it came the image of a 10 year old girl. A little girl who was eager to prove herself. God! What happened to her!

This was not a good idea. She was already a bit overemotional from earlier. Breaking down in front of Finn Hudson was not a good idea. But for some strange reason, even though she had no basis for it, she thought it wouldn't be the worst thing ever if it did happen.

"I'm sorry." Finn quietly announced, breaking the silence.

She must not have been as good an actress as she thought, if even Finn Hudson could pick up her mood.

"For what Hudson? You didn't do anything." She questioned, her voice rising.

"I don't know. I just thought maybe it was something I did." He confessed.

"Don't flatter yourself, this isn't about you." She charged and then realized what she had admitted. "Not that there's any "This" in the first place" she quickly corrected herself.

Santana could see him starting to get annoyed. "Look, I'm just trying to be nice here. No need to jump down my throat for It." he defended.

"Yea well, a bit of free advice, don't be so quick to roll over. It's why everyone thinks your house is so fuckin pathetic." She saw Finn physically flinch at the swear.

Ugh, why did he have to be such a…..Hufflepuff?

"Forget it, I'm not hungry anymore." She announced as she got up to leave.

Maybe Finn called something out to her as she left, it didn't matter she wouldn't have been able to hear it anyway.

* * *

><p>A feminine "Santana?" brought her back to the present. Where was she again?<p>

Oh yeah, Professor Binn's class, sixth year History of Magic. And thankfully one of the few places she could actually space out without someone becoming concerned for her mental health.

"Class ended." Rachel sang in a cheerful voice, as if she wasn't just as comatose as Santana had been, a few moments before

Same old same old, Santana thought as sat down for dinner. She looked around at the table at her "friends". She hated them all. Well except for Rachel and Jesse of course. But they were talking to each other and too busy being off on their own little world, to pay her any mind.

She was dangerously close into falling into one of her many daydreams. That was until she spotted him walking into the Great Hall.

He was probably at Quidditch practice. She gathered, when she saw how red his face was.

Discreetly she tried watching him as he walked over to his table, but for some reason he took a detour and headed for the Ravenclaw table. Santana's eyes narrowed when she saw that he had stopped to talk to Tina Cohen-Chang.

Finn had snuck up behind her and put both his hands on her shoulder. Startled Chang tilted her head all the way back, and smiled once she realized who it was. There they stayed in that position, talking to each other.

Had the two of them become a couple within the last month without her even realizing it?

What was she smiling about? Why were they laughing? Damn them for being so happy. There was nothing in this world worth being happy about.

Santana clenched her fist. What could he possibly see in her anyway? She was a bloody Ravenclaw. They were so boring, more concerned with books than boys.

Finn could do so much better.

She could picture it now. They would graduate Hogwarts. Tina would go off to train to become a Medi-Witch and Finn would be drafted to a professional Quidditch team. After a few years they would reunite and they would realize that school sweethearts were meant to be. They'd get married and Tina would become pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl of course. She would continue her job as a medi-witch, while Finn would become a stay at home dad, having made enough money in his short career as a Quidditch player.

It was then it hit her. How truly pathetic she actually was.

Was she so hung up on this boy, that she just made an entire fantasy about him with another girl?

She started feeling uncomfortable in the great hall. There were too many people; she just had to get out.

"Excuse me" She announced to the people around her, getting up. It didn't look like anyone cared. While the two people most likely to care, Jesse and Rachel, were too preoccupied with their own exchange to notice her, what else was new.

Santana quickly locked the door on the bathroom stall and crumpled onto the toilet seat.

This was going to be the rest of her life, wasn't it? This was it; this was how she was going to feel for the rest of her life. How naïve was it to think that she at least had the rest of her education at Hogwarts to enjoy.

She was going to graduate. Get stuck in a loveless marriage with Jesse, and she was going to feel alone as she was now. She would have a son, who looked exactly like Jesse off course. He would grow up, go to Hogwarts then graduate and get married to a pureblood girl that was arranged for him even before he could talk.

Santana would cry at the wedding. Not because she was happy, but for the girl getting married. The girl who she knew would be just as unhappy and alone as she was, stuck with the traditions that came with being from a noble pureblood family.

Santana heard the door to the bathroom opening and realized that she had actually been crying. Crap. What was she thinking? Of course someone would eventually use the restroom next to the Great Hall during supper time. She just hoped that whoever it was, they hadn't heard her.

"Hello. Is someone in there?" Tina Cohen-Chang asked her from the other side of the door.

Great. Fuckin perfect. Just what she needed. She decided to ignore the girl, hoping she'd go away.

"Is everything okay? Do you need any help?" Chang's annoying voice persisted

"Everything's fine and dandy here Chang. So why don't you just run along now and go play." Santana spat out.

"Santana Lopez?" Tina's flabbergasted response only served to piss Santana off more.

"No, it's Kurt Hummel." She mocked

"Look Santana. I know that we're not exactly friends." The Ravenclaw ventured.

"Understatement of the century." Santana scoffed.

"Okay, we're not even on civil speaking terms. But, ummm, if you ever need someone to talk too….."

That was it. Who did this girl think she was? She didn't know the first thing about Santana. She yanked the door open and saw Tina standing in front of her.

"Move." Santana whispered in her deadliest voice.

"No." the Ravenclaw answered defiantly, shaking her head.

"What!" Santana was beyond shocked.

"I said no." the girl stated calmly.

"Screw you Chang!" Santana lost it. "Why don't you go back to your perfect life, with your perfect grades, and your perfects boyfriend, and your perfect future and .ALONE!" Santana screamed pushing past her.

* * *

><p>As Tina sat down to join her fellow classmates her fist inclination was too ask for insight on one of the most bizarre events in her life, but that wouldn't have been right. She knew.<p>

No one could tell what was wrong if they looked over at the Slytherin table. Not even Tina and she was actually there for what had transpired. She wondered how Santana could look so perfect, considering she had just been crying her eyes out in the girls' bathroom less than 10 minutes ago. While Tina looked like a complete mess the next day if she so much as went to bed late.

What did she mean when she said Tina had a perfect life and perfect boyfriend? She didn't even have a boyfriend. If anything it was Santana that had the perfect life.

She was Santana Lopez, the Slytherin Ice Queen. She came from a powerful family that had connections all over the wizarding world, She was rich even before she could walk, She was gonna marry one of the hottest guys in school, and she wouldn't have to work a day in her life after she graduated.

While Tina had to do things like send every single assignment she got to her parents for review, and worry about things like getting into a good medi-witch training program, and finding a way to pay for it.

"What's wrong Tina?" Her friend Mike asked her after she had been quiet for a while.

"Nothing. Everything's perfectly okay." She lied.

"Nu-uh. Somethin's botherin ya." Artie interjected with a fake twang. "Why dontcha just tell us?"

"Come on guys. Just leave her alone." Quinn intervened on her behalf. "And stop talking in that voice Artie. It's weird."

"Yo Tina! What's up?" Puck asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"What the hell Puck? Go back to your own table. You can't just sit here anytime you want." Quinn scolded him.

"Aww Q, you know you want me here." Puck simpered, making a kissing face at her. Quinn just rolled her eyes. "Besides. I heard Tina here was in trouble. I just had to rush over here and try to save her. You can't blame me. It's in my nature." He finished, giving her a grin.

Tina eyes momentarily flickered over to the Slytherin table, but Puck caught her.

Puck's expression darkened when he followed her gaze. She wasn't surprised. Even though everyone made jokes about Hufflepuffs, the Slytherins were by far the most unpopular house. But when it came to Gryffindors and Slytherins, the two houses hated each other purely on principle. "The snakes huh? You shouldn't get involved with them Tina."

That was always the rule she had followed previously. But for the first time ever, she couldn't help but wonder if there was more to Santana Lopez than meets the eye.

* * *

><p>Santana was feeling much better as she prepared for bed that night. Maybe a good cry to get it all out of her system was what she needed. Yep, she'd probably forget this feeling this way as soon as she got up tomorrow, she convinced herself. Her life was just fine.<p>

What was she thinking? She didn't really think that Tina had the perfect life. She just hoped Tina hadn't read too much into her rant. Maybe the girl would just think Santana was on drugs or something? She and Finn could run off and get married tomorrow, for all she cared.

As Santana drifted off to sleep she declared to herself that it was the last time she would waste another thought on Finn Hudson.

_The hooded figure raised its' wand and whispered a command to open the lock. Carefully, the figure pushed the door open and made its way into the kitchen. It tensed up when it heard the almost unnatural sounds coming from the other room.  
><em>

_What was it? The Felevision? It didn't really matter. It was it important for only one reason. That was where the target would be found.  
><em>

_Even though the entire being was covered, hesitation could almost be seen on its face. It made a move almost as if leaving the house, but stopped with a sudden grunt. A raised sleeve revealed the cause of the distress, the burning green mark of a skull and snake.  
><em>

_In resignation, it slowly made its way into the other room. There, a man was seated facing the muggle contraption. A trembling wand was pointed at the back of his head. All of sudden, the man turned around and surprise appeared on his face. But it was too late; green light had already shot out of the wand.  
><em>

_The deed had been done, but the figure had not left. It could be seen clutching the prone body and sobbing a man's name over and over again  
><em>

_Finn  
><em>

"Santana. Santana" Someone was shaking her. "Wake up." The voice pleaded.

Santana groaned and squinted at the person with sleepy eyes.

"Finn?" She panted.

There was only silence for a while. "No…. it's Rachel."

She violently jerked herself up and focused on the person standing over her bed. It really was Rachel. Pink Pajamas and everything.

Fuck. Santana was completely horrified over what had transpired. What the hell was wrong with her? How could she have mistaken Rachel for Finn?

She held Rachel's gaze with as little expression as she could muster. She could almost see a twinkle come into Rachel's eyes. What was it? Interest? Amusement?

Rachel was smart, she'd figure it out. Then her life would be completely over.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Rachel finally asked.

She didn't trust her voice, so Santana just nodded her head.

"Was it about Finn?"

With a blank stare, Santana shook her head.

"Okay, well I saw you tossing and turning and I got concerned." Rachel explained. "Are you sure, you're okay" She continued to question.

"Yea, bad dream" Santana croaked. "Thanks for waking me" was her short reply.

"It's no trouble at all." Rachel responded, giving her a long hug. Then she was gone.

Santana took a deep breath and laid back down to sleep, but not before checking her forearm for a green tattoo.

The next morning, Santana could be seen concerned with her breakfast. It was all an act though; she was just rolling the sausages around with her fork. For from out of the corner of her eye she could see Rachel watching her like a hawk from across the table.

What was she expecting? For Santana to totally crack under the pressure and say"I give up Rachel. I want Finn Hudson. Oh you're so clever! What address should I send the medal to?"

Well that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Santana had way too much pride for that.

She was starting to get so worked up that she accidently knocked her sausages off her plate. Great, her food was ruined. She noticed a layer of fuzz around her sausages when she picked them off the ground.

Ew. Gross. Weren't the house elves suppose to clean Hogwarts while they slept?

She could still feel Rachel's eyes on her.

She remembered last night. The way Rachel was staring at her with a twinkle in her eye when she heard Santana call out Finn's name.

Finn.

Thinking about her bed and Finn at the same time had unexpectedly caused Santana to go into a daydream.

Finn's hands were gently pushing her onto her bed, his eyes were locked with hers. "What are you doing Santana?" He whispered seductively in her ear. "Stop pretending you like Jesse. You're not fooling me" and his hands were clutching her sides, and his lips pressed onto hers…

Santana swallowed.

Automatically, her eyes wandered over to the Hufflepuff table. She saw him. He was sitting there alone and looking down while eating his breakfast. His hair was unusually messy today. Her fingers twitched, she wanted nothing more than to run her fingers through his hair.

Crap. She realized what she was doing too late.

She quickly tried to look away but she caught a glimpse of Rachel. Who was wearing a completely triumphant look on her face.

Rachel turned around and looked at the exact spot Santana had been staring at. At Finn.

Santana wished she could have disappeared from the very spot she was sitting. Or maybe she would get lucky and all this would turn out to be that dream from last night she was still having.

Rachel turned back to her with a smug expression. The twinkle had returned to her eyes.

Santana folded her arms, and tried to appear calm.

..

Dammit! Rachel was too smart for her own good! It wasn't normal! It wasn't healthy!

"You gonna eat those?" Her classmate Azimio asked her, pointing to her sausages.

"No." Santana pushed her plate in his direction. "Knock yourself out."

She saw Azimio stab all the sausages with his fork and swallow them whole.

That wasn't very healthy either.


	4. Chapter 4

Santana could feel Rachel's presence right behind her as she walked into her dorm room. A soft click indicated that Rachel had locked the door, making sure there would be no interruptions between them.

Well time to face the music, she thought with resignation. But damn her if she thought that Santana Lopez would go down without a fight. There was no way she was going to make this easy.

So Santana sat on her bed and opened her potions book, and perused its pages as if she was totally oblivious to Rachel's gaze from the dormitory entrance.

"Santana." Rachel said in a clipped tone as she walked over to stand besides her bed. "There's something I need to talk to you about." She requested, as if Santana didn't already know what she wanted.

"Sorry Rachel. I'm kind of busy." She replied in a distracted voice, still feigning interest in her reading.

Rachel gently took the book from her and quietly closed it shut.

"Let me rephrase that Santana." Rachel had folded her arms still holding her book." I'm going to talk to you, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it."

Santana just let out a big sigh and shrugged her shoulders "Whatever, suit yourself." She met Rachel's eyes with determination. Bring it little girl, I'm not scared of you.

"I was just thinking, how many people named Finn do we know?" Rachel questioned, tapping a finger on her chin.

"I don't know? Why do you ask?" She responded in a confused voice.

"Well I was just curious. You did call me Finn last night when I woke you up." It seemed as if Rachel already had this whole conversation rehearsed. Santana didn't like it one bit.

"I have a house elf named Finn." She lied.

"There's a Finn Hudson in our year who, might I add, you where eating up with your eyes this very morning." Rachel stated dryly.

"Really? What a coincidence." She said with surprise.

"Santana. You were dreaming about Finn last night weren't you?" Rachel was beginning to look frustrated.

Santana just stared blankly back at her.

"You were? Weren't you?" She repeated, looking extremely pleased with herself now.

"No idea what you're talking about tiny." Santana turned away and tried to appear cool.

"Sure you do. You were having a dream about Finn Hudson last night, and we both know it." She continued to stress.

"But….but it wasn't even that type of dream!" Santana bursted out, losing her head completely.

Rachel's lips curled into a smile. "I never said that it was."

Shit. Santana mutely stared back at her friend.

"Well, was it?" she asked.

"No!"

"Do you have those types of dreams about Finn often?" She prodded.

Santana's eyes flashed with anger. "Just what is it that you're trying to say?"

"Will you stop playing stupid!" Rachel shouted, losing her patience. "It all makes perfect sense now. You like him don't you."

"No! Of course..."

"I can't believe I haven't seen it before." She exclaimed, completely ignoring Santana. "You're always talking about the Hufflepuffs, you always find a way to get us around the same area as them, and you always go out of your way to insult Finn. Now I finally know why."

".No." She whispered shaking her head. "This cannot be happening."

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about Santana. I think it's actually rather…..cute"

Well she never heard it put that way before" What? It isn't cute." She spat.

Rachel smiled slyly back at her. "What is it then?"

"It's idiotic." She muttered looking down. "It's stupid and it's childish and I don't ever want to discuss it."

"Oh Santana. So it's true?" Rachel pronounced, giving her a tragic look.

"Don't "oh Santana" me." She glared. "Well now you know. Are you happy now? Go ahead and make fun of me and laugh all you want. The Slytherin Ice Queen wants a mudblood Hufflepuff. Tell the whole school for all I care." She admitted in defeat. "Just leave me alone."

"I would never laugh at you Santana." She told her seriously "but we have to talk about it. How long have you felt this way about him?"

"I don't' know? Two, three years maybe. She revealed dully.

She saw Rachel make a soft "Oh" sound with her lips "You are kidding me."

Santana fell back and let her head hit the pillow and laid there.

Rachel sat down at the foot of her bed. ""You're not in love with Jesse are you?" she asked quietly.

Santana didn't say anything. She didn't have to, they both knew the answer.

"Rachel, please don't tell Jesse about this." She begged "You have to understand. If Jesse ever found out, or worse my parents did….it wouldn't be just a silly school girl crush to them, something like this is dangerous."

"I won't tell anyone Santana." She promised "But I'm worried about you. It's not healthy to like someone for so long without an outlet for your feelings. Things like that can drive you insane."

It was then that she realized that Rachel wasn't just talking about Santana. Rachel was in love with Jesse. It was something else they both knew. It must be so hard for her, she realized with a lot of sadness for her friend. How did it feel have the person you loved be so close to you, only to have them be with someone else you were close with?

They were in a love triangle that none of them wanted. Santana would have thrown a bone, so to speak, at Rachel. She would've gladly given her permission to let her have a go at Jesse. If only she wasn't already sure that Rachel would never go for it in a million years. Not if him and Santana were still officially a couple.

"So how do you think we should start?" Rachel suddenly asked her

"Start what?" Santana questioned

"Getting you closer to Finn of course." She stated as if it were obvious.

Santana started to get alarmed. She knew Rachel well enough to know that when she got an idea, she ran with it. Hard.

'I'm not sure if that's a good idea." Santana started to say.

"Santana please, for me." Rachel pleaded "I care about you."

"Okay." She relented after a while.

"Great!" Rachel's mood had totally shifted."Now I think that you should start by not insulting him anymore. Boys have egos you know, Finn isn't any different just because his uniform is black and yellow."

At Santana's unamused look, Rachel corrected herself. "Maybe for you, toning it down would be good enough." She relented. "Have you ever spoken to him before" she continued to explore.

There was that conversation they had before first year, Santana remembered. However, there was no way she was gonna tell Rachel about it, she thought in embarrassment. "Well there was this one time in third year…" She could see Rachel waiting for her to further elaborate. "We sort of had a conversation" she mumbled

"What did you say?" Rachel asked her suspiciously.

"I said his house was fuckin pathetic" she groaned "See! There is absolutely no way that I can have a civil conversation with that boy."

"There's always a way Santana, we just have to take it slow is all" Rachel assured her. "How about this? Nice weather we're having"

"That may be the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Santana deadpanned

"Trust me. It'll work. She encouraged her grinning. "I'll be there every step of the way, helping."

Nice weather we're having. She repeated in her head. Nice weather we're having.

"Well it can't hurt, I suppose." Santana said doubtful. It couldn't be worse than it already was though.

"Everything will turn out just fine, you'll see." Rachel smiled at her.

Nice weather we're having.

"Now come here." Rachel patted her lap.

When Santana just stared at her, she let out a giggle and guided Santana's head onto her lap. She then pulled out a brush and gently started to comb Santana's hair. It was nice. It reminded her of how they were when they were first years.

"You know I don't actually like Finn Hudson, It was just a joke." Santana said weakly.

"Mhmm hmmm." Was Rachel's only response.

"I don't really" Santana tried to face her, but her head was quickly turned back.

"You know? Finn is pretty good looking." She gossiped. "He isn't as classically handsome as Jesse of course. But he does have that boy next door thing going on."

Santana had no idea what that meant, considering Jesse lived next door to her.

"I mean those dimples. They are pretty unique." Santana could feel her face tighten upon hearing Rachel talking about Finn like that.

"Okay! I get it. Can we please talk about something other than Hudson." She said through clenched teeth.

All of sudden she felt the brushing cease. Rachel had stopped and there was only silence in the room. Santana started to feel dread as she knew what was coming.

"Santana." The girl whispered quietly."How come you've never told me about this before? I am your best friend after all."

Santana briefly thought about lying to the girl, but decided that the least Rachel deserved was the truth.

"I don't know?" she began slowly "I was afraid that maybe you'd use it against me. You do want Jesse after all."

"How could you think that?" Santana didn't dare turn her head this time. "After knowing me for six years, how could you think that I would do something like that to you?"

Her eyes closed. "We're Slytherins." She continued and stated simply.

"We want things."

* * *

><p>Noah Puckerman was having second thoughts as he paced by himself around the empty hallway. He was starting to get frustrated and a little bored. Classes should be ending soon. Shouldn't they? Never mind the fact that he should've also been in class at this particular time, he had a plan to implement.<p>

Waiting around for so long started to give him doubts. He was a proud Gryffindor. He didn't have his plans down to the very last detail, like a Ravenclaw. He doesn't just try and hope for the very best like a Hufflepuff. He sure wasn't hell like a Slytherin, and lied and cheated his way to success.

No. He was a Gryffindor. He charged in loudly, when he wanted something. It just so happens that it hadn't been working for him the last few months. So time to try a different approach.

Little by little the hallway started to fill with students. Finally! He tried looking for his target, there she was. Tina Cohen-Chang, Ravenclaw prefect.

"Hey Tina." Puck saddled next to her."Need any help with those?" He grinned pointing to the supplies she was carrying.

Tina just rolled her eyes. "I know what you're trying to do Puck."

"I have no idea what you're talking about?" Puck replied in an innocent tone.

"Sure you do." Tina sighed. "You think that by being nice to me, you can get Quinn to finally go out with you." She accused. "You're just lucky that I need someone to help me set up for the prefects meeting." She finished, unloading her package onto him and opening a door.

Well it wasn't like he was totally surprised that he'd been found out.

"Come on. You don't have to tell Quinn she has to go out with me. Although that wouldn't totally suck. Just show her that I've changed my ways and that I'm a different person now." He explained.

"Riiight." Tina drawled moving some chairs around." And this change of heart has nothing to do with the fact that Quinn Fabray is the only girl in this school who's turned you down. Face it Puck. You just like the thrill of getting what you can't have." She concluded plopping down on a seat.

"Okay, maybe it was like that in the beginning." He conceded. "But I've been trying really hard. You don't see me beating people up anymore right?"

"Tina?" He questioned, poking her in the shoulder. For the Ravenclaw had inexplicably become frozen. He looked up to see what was bothering her, and clenched his jaw.

It was the two sixth year Slytherin prefects. Jesse St. Jackass and his child bride. It looked like they were the first of the prefects to arrive for the meeting. But why did their appearance cause Tina to act so weird? Where they hassling her or something? She did drop a small hint the other day about how something was bothering her.

Puck scrutinized the pair. The two of them were acting like him and Tina weren't even there, choosing the two most secluded seats in the room.

"Hey!" Puck barked. "Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's bad manners to not introduce yourself when you enter a room?"

Jesse barely moved a muscle and started to speak in conversational tone directed at Santana. "It's sad how far some families have fallen."

It was such a small yet snide comment, that Puck wanted nothing more than to get up and deck him. Yea, his family was purebloods too, but he didn't go for any of that crap. However, that wasn't a good idea. He had just promised Tina he stopped beating people up a second ago.

He felt Tina grab his hand. "Please Puck." She quietly soothed. "Just let it go. I'll talk to Quinn for you" She promised.

"What? It's not even about that." he tried to explain. "It's about..."

"Yea I know what it's about, but believe me I'm fine." She assured him. "Now go."

Puck didn't believe her for one second. But luckily for Tina, the rest of the prefects were starting to arrive. He wasn't about to tell her that was the only reason he was leaving. She'd probably get all offended about it, girls were weird like that.

* * *

><p>"No thank you." Santana replied, looking up from inspecting her manicured nails. "Besides, I'm busy that day. I think?"<p>

"Santana." The head girl let out a frustrated grunt. "We need more people to help plan the dance, and you've been dodging you're responsibilities long enough. It's only fair that you contribute this time."

"Well if you don't believe me, I can always get Snape to write me a letter to be excused." She challenged.

"Fine." The other girl relented giving up on her, then started to dole out assignments to the other prefects.

Santana wasn't actually busy. She just hated her prefect duties. Wasn't becoming a prefect suppose to be an honor? What kind of honor required you to do more work? There was no way Santana was going to volunteer for extra. They should really make the crappy students and the trouble makers do all the work as punishment, she figured.

"…no objections? Okay, thanks Santana. Meeting adjourned." The head girl clapped her hands together, giving Santana an evil smile.

Wait. what?

Everyone had gotten up to leave, but Santana was still glued to her seat.

"You just agreed to do rounds for the ball committee for the rest of week." Jesse whispered into her ear and patted her shoulder.

Santana was still grumbling to herself and sitting in the same spot, when she heard Rachel call her name a few minutes later.

"I'm in here." She yelled back.

Rachel stuck her head into the room from the hallway. "Oh there you are." She said in an excited voice." "Come come" She quickly took her by the hand and led her down the hallway.

She was almost afraid to ask."Rachel, what are we doing?"

"Plan A" was her short reply.

"Rachel. We've talked about this, remember." Santana began slowly. "I don't already know what you're thinking. You have to actually tell me with words."

"Finn is in the library. He's all alone. Plan A." She listed

No way! It's way too soon, she thought as she quickly snapped her hand back from Rachel's grasp.

Rachel put her hand on her hips when she saw that Santana had stopped. "He's all alone. This is a great opportunity for you to have that civil conversation we were talking about."

Santana bit her lip and wrestled with her indecision.

Rachel continued to encourage her. "We might not get another chance."

Santana was struck by a bout of nervousness and the first thing that sprang from lips was "How does my hair look?"

Rachel just gave her a shy smile and tucked a hair behind her ear. "It looks great Santana."

"It looks horrible doesn't it?" She groaned, running her fingers through her hair.

Santana tugged on Rachel's arm, before she rebutted her claim. She pulled her into the nearest bathroom, and examined herself with every single angle possible using the bathroom mirror. She ignored the eye roll Rachel did when she caught her reflection.

"Awful" she muttered. She hated her hair; it was too straight, it was so boring." You don't have a comb do you?

"No." Rachel sighed deeply.

"Me either." She cursed herself.

Then suddenly the sound of a toilet flushing alerted them that they weren't the only ones in the bathroom. A brown headed, short haired Gryffindor underclassman walked out of a stall. She washed her hands at a sink as far from them as possible, avoiding looking Santana in the eyes the entire time.

Santana smiled. The Gryffindor knew who she was by her reputation. She liked it. Just as she was about to pass her, Santana pulled out her wand and pointed it right between the girl's eyes.

"You." She asked the girl. She heard Rachel say her name in warning. "Do you have a comb?"

"Uh, yes" she squeaked out after Santana had pocketed her wand.

"May I borrow it?" Santana asked in a fake sweet voice.

"Sure." The girl trembled out.

Santana was starting to lose patience. Weren't Gryffindors suppose to be brave? "Well where is it." She demanded, when the girl remained frozen.

The girl jumped at her voice and quickly rummaged through her bag. She held out the comb for Santana after she finally found it.

She was about to grab it but stopped. "You don't have dandruff do you?" She asked scrutinizing her

The girl shook her head.

"Any diseases that can be transmitted through hair?" You could never tell with a Gryffindor. They probably all had lice from running around the Forbidden Forest, saving baby unicorns all night.

The girl just shook her head again, confused.

"Good." Santana snatched the comb from her, and started brushing her hair.

Rachel looked like she was starting to get impatient. "We have to hurry Santana."

Santana ignored her. Her thoughts were totally jumbled. There was no way she was ready to face Finn. This was going to be a disaster. But at least she could blame Rachel if things didn't work out.

"Remember nothing big, just a civil conversation" Rachel reminded her. "That means no name calling, no arguments, no dirty looks…."

"I know how to have a civil conversation Rachel!" she snapped. Santana paused for a second. "You're going to be with me right?"

"Yep, I'll be right there the whole time for moral support." Rachel assured her.

Santana tried to not look too relieved.

When they both entered the library, she immediately spotted Finn sitting at a corner window table with books spread out around him.

"What a shame, he looks busy." Santana turned away, but Rachel just let out a small laugh and tugged her back in his direction.

"Just remember, civil conversation." Rachel repeated for the 50th time.

"I know." Santana whispered back, annoyed.

What was her line again? Oh yea, nice weather we're having.

They stood over Finn's table, but he had yet to notice them. Rachel gave a small cough and Finn looked up with a distracted expression.

Rachel suddenly kicked Santana in the shin. "Ow!' she bursted out glaring at the shorter girl. What the hell Rachel?

At Rachel's nod she realized the girl was waiting for Santana to start. Finn was just staring at the pair of them with a blank expression. Not the most encouragingly way to start things off.

Santana cleared her throat. "Nice weather we're having. Huh, Hudson?"

"What?" Finn responded, sounding completely baffled.

"Are you deaf?" She spat. "I said, nice weather we're having!"

Finn looked at her, then out the window, then back at her." It's raining outside." He deadpanned.

Santana stared out the window dripping with rain water. Great. Just what she needed. She hated the concept of rain in that instant. She also hated Finn and his dumb ass remarks.

"SO?" Santana yelled. "WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM? I CAME HERE TO HAVE A CIVIL CONVERSATION, AND YOU JUST HAD TO RUIN IT." She could feel Rachel tugging at her sleeve."DID IT OCCUR TO YOU THAT MAYBE SOME PEOPLE OUT THERE ACTUALLY LIKE THE RAIN? IT WAS JUST A NICE SIMPLE COMMENT BUT YOU JUST HAD TO ARGUE WITH IT. DIDN'T YOU?

Finn just looked around in confusion, as if there was an explanation for her behavior.

Rachel grabbed her and started dragging her away. "Please ignore her." she tried to explain. "I'm afraid she isn't feeling very well. You know, all that rain we've been having. Have a nice day Finn!"

Santana tried looking back, but Rachel kept turning her away. She finally got a short glimpse of him.

He was laughing at her! It was a soft amused kind off laugh. That was it! No one laughed at Santana Lopez and got away with it! She spun around too fast for Rachel to catch her.

"I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS HUDSON!' she yelled, shaking her fist at him for good measure.

Rachel quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. "Stop yelling Santana, this is the library. You're going to get us in trouble.

"I don't think that went as great as it could've been" Rachel admitted a few minutes later, leaning against the wall.

"Yea" Santana remarked calmly from her seat besides Rachel's legs.

"Well there's always Plan B." Rachel pointed out, nodding her head.

"And Plan B is…." Santana questioned.

"I have no idea." Rachel admitted.

Santana tried to forget as what would forever be remembered as the "library incident" the next night during her rounds.

Classes earlier that morning had passed by without much incident. Well except for Finn speaking to her for a brief moment.

It was at the start of transfiguration class and Santana was sitting at her usual spot with Rachel. When Finn was about to pass them, he stopped at her table and remarked "Nice weather we're having. Huh, Lopez." with a wide smile. Santana just gave him a dirty look in response, and he walked to his seat as if nothing happened.

Santana felt her cheeks grow rather hot.

"Santana. You're blushing." Rachel whispered to her

"I am not." Santana stuttered. She couldn't be. Slytherins did **not **blush!

Rachel was grinning as If Christmas had come early." Yes you are!" she confirmed as if it were a good thing.

Then Santana remembered. That Gryffindor girl with the comb. She must've caught some weird disease or something. It was the only explanation, she groaned.

But now she was doing rounds. She wanted to groan again. Rounds were the least favorite of her prefect duties. It required her to roam the halls at night while everyone was either asleep or warm in their common rooms. She had to catch students sneaking around after hours. It was the worst.

There were so many better uses for her time she grumbled. Even that ball committee would've been better than this. Ugh. Everything was starting to annoy her, the more she walked.

Stupid ugly statue blocking the hallways. Seriously what was the point of them? They were so dirty too. She'd probably get tetanus if she so much as breathed near one of them. Stupid open window letting all the draft in. Stupid bumpy stone floor. I'd probably trip, if I wasn't all ladylike and graceful and shit.

Stupid Finn Hudson walking right at me. That boy is far too good looking for his own good.

Wait a minute. Finn Hudson? Walking right at me? Too good looking for his own good?

Santana stopped and blinked, not believing her own eyes. But it was true. Finn was walking right in her direction still oblivious of her. She briefly thought about tripping on the bumpy floor and falling out the window, hoping the draft would carry her.

However, this was too good of an opportunity to let pass. He was out after curfew, and she had caught him.

"Hudson!" she barked as she got closer."Do you know what time it is? We have rules you know?"

"Oh, and you know about rules Santana?" He countered, when he finally noticed her. "What do you call screaming your head off in the library then?"

Damn. He got her there. So she decided to ignore it and continue. "Well I think a weeks detention is befitting of the crime, don't you think?"

Finn just sighed as if she was being a great inconvenience. "I have a note."

"What?" she couldn't believe her ears.

"I said I have a note." He repeated "From Professor Sprout, the Hufflepuff head of house." Waving a piece of paper in front of her.

"Bullshit" She argued. "Let me see the note." She demanded holding out her hands.

"No. you'll rip it up" he accused clutching the paper.

"Gee, it's not like you know how to do magic." She mocked. "You remember what magic is, right Hudson? That thing you've been doing in between meals for the last 6 years of your life."

He glared at her but gave her the note anyway. The quick moment of eye contact and finger brushing had caused Santana's heart to start beating faster than usual. You are the definition of pathetic girl, she declared to herself looking down at the note.

'I Professor Sprout, give Finn Hudson permission to be out after hours to practice Quidditch." Santana read the note over again. "What the hell Is this suppose to be?" she angrily questioned him.

"Just what it says." He defended still glaring at her. "As I'm sure you're aware of, it's been raining for the past few days. So we've haven't been able to have Quiddtich practice."

"Oh, so Quidditch Star Finn Hudson gets preferential treatment does he." She charged "Just because you can hit a ball away means you no longer have to follow the rules like the rest of us. Is that it? You know what this is? It's cheating. Does Dumbledore know that this kind of thing goes on? I bet he'd never let a Slytherin get away with it in a million years." She ranted.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." He threw up his hands. "This happens all the time. I know for a fact that the Slytherin's Quidditch team does it too."

She's never heard that before, but then again, she never did pay attention to Quidditch. Besides, Finn wasn't smart enough to lie to her.

"Yea well…. I'm still gonna report you tomorrow." She threatened weakly.

"Whatever." He stated, unfrightened. "But you can't give me detention." He finished, walking past her.

He was about to get away, she had to find a way to stop him. "Don't you want your note?" She enticed.

Finn gave her an annoyed look as he walked back to get his note. That in turn annoyed her. She should be the one with the attitude, not him.

"You know what your problem is Hudson?" She yelled at his retreating form.

"No. But I bet you can tell me." He called back to her.

"You're way to self involved. You just see what's in front of you. Whether it's Quidditch, or school, or your friends, they all just come to you, and they're just interesting diversion to have fun with aren't they? Never mind the things you can't see." She alleged.

That stopped him. "Oh I'm the self involved one? That's funny coming from you Santana." He pointed out. "Since every single day you walk around like you're better than everyone else and judge them. When in reality, you can't help but judge yourself the hardest."

That infuriated her. It was just like Chang in the bathroom, these people didn't know the first thing about her. "You think you have me all figured out, don't you?" She hissed walking up to him. Finn just stood there mutely waiting for her. "Well figure this out."

For a moment it looked like Finn was going about to defend himself from a curse. And for a moment  
>Santana didn't know if she was going to throw one. But what she did was much more deadly.<p>

She grabbed the back of his head and tilted his face down to meet hers. "Fuck you Finn. " Santana muttered. She fluttered her eyes shut and in an instant her mouth was covering his.

Finn stood frozen in shock. She clung to him desperately, sensation washing all over her. Her hand clung around his neck and her tongue was willing the space between his lips, willing him to just kiss her back.

All of a sudden Finn tore himself away from her and pushed her up against the wall. She began to panic. Her wrists were firmly held in place above her head and his eyes were level with hers. Was he going to start shouting in her face about how disgusting she was, and to never touch him again? There was nothing she could do about it from this position.

Whatever she was thinking got drowned out as Finn brought his lips down on her with his own kiss. She gave a soft moan as their lips moved against each other. It was like she had been dying of thirst and she was finally afforded a drink of water.

"Ahem" an unmistakable grunt brought them back to reality and they both froze this time. Wide eyed they turned their heads in the direction of the sound, already knowing what they would see.

Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House.

"Mr. Hudson." She said sternly from behind her spectacles. "While I applaud your initiative in cleaning the walls of the castle, I am afraid that Ms. Lopez's robes are not the appropriate materials. However, since the two of you seem so enthusiastic." She looked between them. "The proper equipment will be provided for, when the two of you serve detention with me every night for the next two months. "


End file.
